Wild Rose
by younggrimm
Summary: Rose is ranked number one at Wammy's House, she's friends with all the residents, teachers and students alike. When she befriends the new child, Near, her life begins to change dramatically. Follow Rose over the next eight years of her life. Friends will be lost. Serial killers will arise. She'll help her mentor catch the greatest killer in history. Warning; will be lengthy.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Near

I roamed through the halls of Wammy's House orphanage. It's 7:30 in the morning and I was already called down into our headmaster's office! I stopped in front of the large wooden double doors and waltzed right in without knocking.

"You wish to speak with me, Roger?" I asked. Roger, our graying headmaster, sat behind his desk.

"Yes, please have a seat Rose," he gestured toward the leather chair adjacent to the desk.

"What seems to be the problem, Sir?" I started to panic.

"There's no reason to be nervous, you're not in trouble," I sighed in relief," there's a new child who arrived just this morning. I sent him off not five minutes ago, and I forgot to give him his schedule. I was hoping you'd give it to him at breakfast and show him around a bit."

I nodded, "I'll find him easily," I took the envelope out of Roger's hand with a smile.

"Believe me, you'll know him when you see him. His dorm is the one next to yours," I quickly thanked him and jogged to the cafeteria. Entering the enormous lunch room, I noticed most of the orphanage huddled around a table near the back of the room. One voice in particular stood out: Mello. Mello is about two years younger than I am, with chin length blonde hair. His wardrobe consists of leather pants and black T-shirts. His favorite activity is bitching about being ranked second place, under me. With a sigh, I ran through the lunch line and grabbed random fruits.

"Mello!" I pushed my way to the table to see the the blonde holding a small albino boy by his shirt. "Mello, please put him down, we all remember our first day here. Cut him some slack. You don't know what it's been like for him." he dropped the boy and stalked to his own table. The crowd, however, woudn't budge, "What you all looking at? Don't overwhelm the poor kid! Disperse!" They left immediately.

"I hope he didn't do too much damage before I got here, you all right?" I asked while taking a seat across from him. He simply nodded, white hair falling into his pale face. I held the envelope out to him, "this is for you. I'm willing to show you around if you want."

He opened the envelope and glanced at his schedule. I quickly noticed he was in one of my classes: swimming, his second class. Cool. I stuffed a piece of pineapple into my mouth. He locked his gray eyes with my violet ones and silently accepted my offer. "What's your name?" I asked softly.

"Near," his voice was barely above a whisper. I softly smiled at him, "my name is Briar Rose."

I sighed and checked the time," Classes will start soon. I'll show you to your room, but can we stop at my room quickly?" He simply stood and dumped his tray. I took him to the boys' wing.

"I thought you said we were going to your room first," he stated, obviously confused.

"We are, my room is in the boys' wing. The orphanage became insanely full several years ago, so Roger moved me here. I'm one of the few children here that arrived when this place first became an orphanage. So, I was deemed responsible enough to move to the opposite genders' dorm," I explained.

"Rose?" a boy of around seven stepped from my dorm. I recognized him immediately, his black hair a complete rats nest.

"B?" I scooped the small boy into my arms and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, "which one did you drink from?" he handed me a vial half filled with a blue liquid. I scolded the child, "Why did you get into my potions? Don't you remember what happened last time?"

With a sigh, I handed him the antidote to my youth potion. He downed the entire bottle and slowly grew to his normal size. I then grabbed my swim bag and Gibb's slapped him with it,"How many times have I told you to stay out of my room?" I pushed both boys out and locked the door.

"I couldn't help myself, I wanted to know if you were working on something new."

"I am, but it's still being _tested!"_

"I helped you test it."

I pointed toward the the classrooms,"Go. To. Class." He hastily left. I turned to Near, "You're awfully quiet."

"What just happened?" he asked after a pause.

"Oh, the potion thing?" he nodded, "My whole family was Wiccan. I was brought up with spells and stuff. When they died, I brought it here. L was alright with it, so Roger allowed it. It provides entertainment for the little ones in our free time."Near nodded in understanding.

We soon arrived at Near's first class; Foreign language. "This is where I leave you. We share next period, I'll come back when class is over. Just wait here until I arrive, ok?" he nodded. I had to run to my class just to barely make the bell.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter Two: Lessons**_

_ Oh man. I'm late! I'm late! _ I thought as I rushed to Near's classroom. He stood in the doorway when I ran up to him. "I'm so sorry I'm late! We had a bit of a traffic jam by the gym."

"What happened?" he asked.

"Mello got into another fight," I sighed. We hurried to Near's next class; swimming. I think he and the teacher will get along really well.

"Mello's the blonde who doesn't seem to like me, right?" Near asked. I nodded.

"Yeah, I really don't understand why. He needs to put a lid on that inferiority complex of his. He becomes pissed when someone gets a better score than him on the monthly tests, but he's too afraid of A, B, and me to do anything about it. He knows what'll happen if he messes with us."

Near glanced at me curiously, "What would happen to him?"

I looked him straight in the eye and replied seriously, "If he screws with my boys, I'll kill him."

We finally arrived at the pool room. I gestured to the benches on the edge of the room. Near took a seat. The other students were piling out of the changing rooms, I quickly made my way to my office to change. I got my red one-piece swimsuit on.

"_Eeeeeep!"_ A squeak echoed off the tiles in the large room, followed by a splash. I ran as quickly as I could to the edge of the pool. A ball of white sank to the bottom. Without a second thought, I dove right in. The water distorted my vision slightly, but I quickly found what I was looking for. I hooked my hands under his arms and pulled him close to me. Using one arm to push us to the water's surface, we broke through. I kicked as hard as I could to finally get us to the ladder.

I studied my newest student; his chest wasn't moving! I checked his pulse. Nothing. My students started to crowd around.

"Stand back! Give us some space! _Now!" _They all backed up, twenty of my twenty-one students sporting a look of total fright. I plugged his nose and opened his mouth. My lips met his as I pumped sweet oxygen into his lungs. I then pushed on his chest. Sweet Jesus, I'm not getting a heart beat! I repeated the process. Nothing! A third time. Not one breath. I looked around the room. Quite a few of the children were crying. One smirk could be seen through the crowd. With one final burst of determination, I locked lips with Near one last time, pushing air into his frail body with as much force I could muster.

Choking filled the room as Near spit up the water he inhaled. I tipped him onto his side and rubbed his back. After a few moments, he was breathing once again. "Towels! Get me towels!" I yelled out. Several towels hit me. I grabbed the nearest one and wrapped it around my small friend. He buried his face into my neck and started to shake. My arms found their way around him and I picked him up. My eyes found Mello instantly, I growled at him warningly.

"Ssshhhhh." I hushed Near. My shoulder was wet and not just from the pool water. I stroked his snowy hair in an attempt to comfort him. "It's over now, snowflake. I'm here." I whispered. "I'm here."

I carried the shaking bundle into my office, setting him down in my desk chair. He clung to me. I phoned the Headmaster's office.

"Hello? Rose?" Roger's elderly voice carried worry.

"Roger. I need something to be done with Mello. He just threw Near into the pool!" My voice shook with both anger and being so frightened.

"I hear that you're upset Rose, but I see no reason to punish Mello. It was just some harmless fun."

"_Harmless fun!? _Throwing someone who can't swim into the deepest end of the pool and having the teacher pull their lifeless body out and use CPR to _revive them_ isn't harmless fun!" I yelled into the phone. Near whimpered beside me, cuddling further into me.

"Wait! You're telling me that Near can't swim and _drowned? _Is he alright?" Roger sounded like he was about to break his desk.

"Yes, he's a little shaken up, but he's fine. Now, I want Mello dealt with as soon as possible." I tried to keep my voice steady, as to not scare Near again.

"I'll deal with him the moment you get him to my office." he hung up. I threw down the phone. Near stayed glued to my side as we walked out of the office. We passed through the crowd and I latched my hand around Mello's wrist.

"Ow! What the hell are you doing Rose? Rose? Hello! What. Are. You. Doing?" he tried to pry his wrist out of my grip, but my hand became even tighter.

"If you even _think _about doing anything else to nearly _kill _a fellow Wammy, I will personally introduce you to Lucifer. I'd be happy to watch you suffer through what he'd have in store for you. Believe me when I say that he is a hell of a lot worse than me." I growled through clenched teeth. I pulled the two around to the other side of the orphanage.

"'Fellow Wammy'? Since when did this low life become a Wammy?" Mello lost his temper right there, no longer finding any of this funny.

"Since he passed the entry test." we entered Roger's office. I pushed Mello into a chair in front of Roger and slammed the door. Mello's yelling died down the closer we got to the boys' wing. We stopped in front of Near's door.

"Go in and change, Near. You'll catch a cold if you stay in those." I pulled him into a hug, giving him a tight squeeze before lightly pushing him through his door. I slid into my own room and threw on shorts and a T-shirt. I didn't bother changing out of my swim suit, knowing I'd need it later.

"Rose?" Near quietly knocked. He had on the same outfit he had before, only dry. "I don't mean any offense by saying this, but do I have to take swimming?" he averted his eyes, probably thinking he upset me.

"Unfortunately, swimming is a required class." I set a hand on his shoulder. "If you're up for it, maybe I can give you lessons in your free time." He stiffened slightly. He started to play with the ends of his sleeves.

"You'd give up your free time to help me?" he kept his eyes glued to the floor.

"You sound surprised. Of course I'd help you out! Besides, I've never had a student fail my class before, and I'm not having that start now!"

"No one has ever done something nice for me before, let alone acknowledge my existence." he said.

"How? You're so dang adorable, how could I not notice you? Anyway, your lessons start today at five. Meet me at the pool and don't be late!"


End file.
